Social Science Computer Review: Symposium on Crime Mapping

Ronald Wilson, ed.

Volume 25, No. 2, Summer 2007

Crime mapping continues to help criminal justice practitioners and researchers perform higher quality, more efficient, more responsive work. Geographic information systems (GIS) and spatial data analysis techniques are well-established tools for analyzing criminal behavior and its effect on the criminal justice system and society.

In a special issue of the Social Science Computer Review, experts discuss the history of crime mapping and the software advancements that shape the current field. Edited by Ronald Wilson, program manager of the National Institute of Justice’s Mapping and Analysis for Public Safety Program and Data Resources, this journal issue explores the “automation of geography” through software and how it enables law enforcement to better understand the spatial elements of crime.

Topics include the use of GIS and other spatial analysis software programs to:

• Visualize the distribution of sex offenders.
• Study crime around substance abuse treatment centers.
• Examine the travel patterns of bank robbers.
• Explore local crime patterns in urban areas.